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THE ETHICS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Blog

Tue Feb 14, 2017 · Neal Evans

It is a familiar scenario explored in science fiction novels and movies: the computing power of machines expands exponentially in all dimensions. Machines are developed having a near limitless capacity for processing information, possessing immediate access to the totality of human knowledge, and sensing reality in a way that approaches real-time omniscience. Based on the assumption that consciousness can be reduced to computation,[i] this process works relentlessly towards a threshold where machines become self-aware and indistinguishable from the human mind. Consider the wonderful characters developed in this genre: Skynet from the Terminator, Data from Star Trek, HAL9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey, the replicants from Blade Runner, and so many others.

Dreaming of Electric Sheep

In the film Blade Runner, based on Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, the world is populated with machines so sophisticated that they are indistinguishable from the creatures upon which they are based. Robot sheep and frogs have replaced species destroyed in the fallout from a nuclear holocaust. Androids called replicants are designed to do the bidding of their human creators. The replicants have a will to survive and thrive beyond their designed four-year lifespan. This causes some of them to rebel. Bounty hunters called Blade Runners are hired to deal with rogue replicants. When a group of replicants violently escapes their work camp on Mars, a Blade Runner named Decker is hired to hunt and destroy them. Replicants can only be identified by a special test. An interview is administered based on the premise that replicants lack empathy, thus they lack the physiological responses that humans would present in response certain questions.

The Singularity

While this neo-noir film represented pure, fanciful fiction when it was released in the early 80s, today, it serves as an extreme example of a growing concern in the technology space: the dangers of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Entrepreneurs and technologists such as Bill Gates and Elon Musk have already publicly sounded the alarm:

“I am in the camp that is concerned about super intelligence. First the machines will do a lot of jobs for us and not be super intelligent. That should be positive if we manage it well,” Gates wrote. “A few decades after that though, the intelligence is strong enough to be a concern. I agree with Elon Musk and some others on this and don’t understand why some people are not concerned.” (Mack)

While this plays well in popular culture and generates a lot of click bait, other serious thinkers from philosophers to researchers are also working to understand the implications of AI.

Hippocrates and the Superintellegence

How can we ensure that a superintelligence reflects the values that we share and cherish? Can we prevent a superintelligence from driving inexorably towards its chosen goal, humanity be damned? With the proliferation of tools and platforms that bring AI and machine learning technologies to the marketplace, these questions are relevant right now. When we design and build systems using AI and machine learning, we must provide practical safeguards:

AI and Machine Learning Don’t Solve Every Problem. The mathematician and philosopher Nassim Taleb says: “A mathematician starts with a problem and creates a solution; a consultant starts by offering a solution and creates a problem” (Taleb). We have all fallen victim to the manias surrounding the latest technology trends. Yesterday’s ‘there an app for that’ is today’s ‘let’s use AI and machine learning to mine our data and find hidden patterns’. The reality is that AI and machine learning are useful for very particular problem sets. Some other types of problems can be solved more efficiently and cheaply with traditional techniques. Make sure your advisors have the experience and wisdom to know when to apply AI and when not to.

Know Where AI and Machine Learning Excel. In medicine, triage and pre-screening can be offloaded to AI, freeing medical stuff from bureaucracy, as well as allowing doctors to focus on the hard problems and spend more time focused on patients. Machine learning algorithms can inject randomness into the decision search for diagnosticians, getting them ‘unstuck’ from familiar patterns and solutions. Finally, the big data revolution has created a state of permanent information overload in many fields. AI excels at pre-sorting information to find what is most likely relevant given a specific context. In all cases, use AI and machine learning to assist people in making the best decisions possible.

Leave the Ethics to Humanity. Part of what it means to be human is to see the value and dignity inherent in other people. It is our responsibility to judge between right and wrong. We should never delegate this responsibility to algorithms or AI, which tend to optimize for increased efficiency, lower costs, and other potentially dehumanizing factors. We must uphold a Hippocratic Oath for AI: not only should the systems we design never harm nor injure, but our design of AIs should preclude their ability to make moral decisions that affect the lives of people. Of course, this won’t dissuade the evil genius. In the end, we may indeed need Deckers.

To connect with one of PointClear Solutions’ technology experts or to learn more about our digital strategy, design, development, and/or management services, Contact Us. (And don’t forget to follow us on LinkedIn for more great content!)

[i] The question of the nature of consciousness goes to the heart of what it means to be a human being. A matter of interest to philosophers, theologians, and (perhaps most importantly) poets, this topic is beyond the scope of this article.

DAVID KARABINOS

CEO, PRESIDENT & BOARD CHAIRMAN

As President and CEO of PointClear Solutions, David works with the board and executive team driving the vision and strategies of the company. His 36+ years of technology and business experience have helped PointClear achieve exceptional and steady growth since he joined the company in 2010. David honed his skills during the first 18 years of his career in Fortune 500 companies. Since then he has used those skills to create and build numerous companies including eHealthClaim, EquaTerra, Halo Monitoring, American Bank of Huntsville, Harvest Business Advisors and PointClear Solutions. David earned a BS in Business Management/Finance from the University of Alabama Birmingham.

BLAINE ANDERSON

BOARD DIRECTOR, FOUNDER

Blaine co-founded PointClear in 2006 and has been heavily involved in all aspects of the company as it has grown from a startup to a market leader. Blaine started his career at NASA and spent 17 years there studying vibration and acoustic effects in the Space Station and the Space Shuttle programs. Prior to PointClear, Blaine was involved at startups in the healthcare and software development areas, including eHealthClaim and ComFrame. Blaine earned an engineering degree from Auburn University, and currently serves as a mentor at numerous incubators in the Nashville area.

Daren McCormick

COO, EVP & BOARD DIRECTOR

As Chief Operating Officer, Daren works closely with the company’s leadership to guide and direct the day-to-day operations of the company. For over 25 years, Daren has served in progressively more responsible leadership positions across a wide range of privately held and publicly traded companies, including “Fortune” companies. Daren has dedicated his career to the delivery of creative solutions in the healthcare information technology marketplace. Daren holds a degree in Computer Science with a concentration in Software Engineering.

NEAL EVANS, PhD

BOARD DIRECTOR, FOUNDER

Neal Evans, PhD., is both a founder and board member at PointClear Solutions. His interests include artificial intelligence, computational physics, and evolutionary algorithms. His contributions range from the theoretical to the practical, including advances in machine learning, physics, and theoretical optics, and application of these concepts to health informatics. He is a member of the American Physical Society (APS), the Optical Society of America (OSA), and the International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE). He has published in scientific journals and books. Neal is a former board member of the A.G. Gaston Boys & Girls Club and volunteers for Carpenter’s Hands in Birmingham, Alabama.

LEE FARABAUGH

BOARD DIRECTOR, FOUNDER

Lee Farabaugh is both a member of the Board of Directors and founder of PointClear Solutions. She is a senior technology design, operations, and innovation expert, with more than a decade of experience in financial technology (fintech) and healthcare IT. Currently, Lee is serving as chief operating officer of Core10, a company that she also co-founded. Lee holds a bachelor’s degree in studio art from Wake Forest University, a master’s degree in human-computer interaction from Georgia Tech, and a master’s degree in health informatics from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where she is an adjunct instructor. Before joining PointClear in 2006, she was a usability engineer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

SHAWN EWING

VICE PRESIDENT OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

As Vice President of Project Management, Shawn oversees a team of project managers to ensure the successful delivery of client’s software development engagements. Shawn is a motivated, personable business professional with over 12 years of product and project management experience. Since joining PointClear Solutions in 2011, he has applied his project management skills to numerous projects spanning several months to multi-year engagements. He is accomplished in project management methodologies, web and mobile development projects, project planning, team building and communication. Shawn earned a BS in Education from Missouri State University and is a Certified Scrum Master (CSM).

THADD SELDEN

PRINCIPAL ARCHITECT

As a Principal Architect, Thadd helps PointClear Solutions design innovative and scalable web applications and mobile app back-ends. Thadd has a degree in Physics and Math and started his career in defense. After spending 7 years building ground control systems for unmanned systems, first for the Navy and later for Raytheon, Thadd moved on to work on web technologies. He has been using Ruby on Rails since its infancy and has helped launch dozens of successful web and mobile projects.

TOMMY WHITE

VICE PRESIDENT, SOLUTIONS MANAGEMENT

For more than 20 years, technology has been at the center of Tommy White’s career. Across multiple industries, including industrial automation, process control, banking, retail, and healthcare, he has used this central theme to make great ideas a reality. Among the leading international organizations with which Tommy has worked are Siemens, BBVA, and InfluenceHealth. Leaning on degrees in both computer science and psychology, he fully understands that solutions are not independent topics, but rather a choreographed dance between business, technologies, and end users.

Tommy has been a part of the PointClear Solutions team since early 2016 and serves as Vice President, Solutions Management. He is based out of the Birmingham, Alabama, office and his team is responsible for establishing the strategic services that PointClear clients and partners take advantage of for long-term planning, roadmap definition, and execution. PointClear’s proven Solutions process is both a core driver for success, and an accelerator for any multi-phase, multi-platform solutions.

SHAWN FARRAR

SOLUTIONS DIRECTOR

Solutions Director Shawn Farrar joined PointClear Solutions in 2011 and offers expertise in enterprise and business strategy, project management, product management, business analysis, and vendor management. Previously, he served as a global project manager at Apple and a manager, cloud systems, at Hertz Global Holdings. Shawn holds a Bachelor of Science degree in human factors from the University of Illinois and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in health informatics from Northwestern University.

MICHAEL ATKINS

VICE PRESIDENT, TECHNICAL SERVICES

Michael Atkins joined PointClear Solutions in 2017 and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the company’s technical services functions, including management of a team of architects and engineers.

Before joining PointClear, Michael spent several years with Change Healthcare, where he served as the company’s director of Applications Development, Engagement Solutions. Prior to this, he was a director of Healthcare Clinical Solutions Development with Walgreens.

Michael holds a BPA in computer science and accounting from Mississippi State University.

CHRIS HAMMACK

VICE PRESIDENT, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Chris Hammack brings to the PointClear Solutions team more than 20 years of healthcare industry experience. A seasoned sales and business development leader, he most recently served Greenway Health as a regional vice president. He offers expertise in population health and revenue cycle operations, among other areas of healthcare.

Chris holds a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is also a Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) and holds various other networking, management, and sales certifications, including one from the Sandler sales training program.

CHRIS KARABINOS

VICE PRESIDENT, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Chris Karabinos has been with PointClear Solutions since 2011, serving in various business development positions, including sales, marketing and partnership development. As vice president of Business Development, he has helped develop PointClear’s business in the healthcare technology market nationally, as well as in the Southeast United States.

Previously, Chris served eHealthClaim, Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, and ChoicePoint. He is very active in the HIT community in Georgia, serving on the boards of TAG-Health, Health 2.0 Atlanta and Kennesaw State University’s Healthcare Management & Informatics School. Chris has also served on the HIT Leadership Summit’s Steering Committee since 2012. Chris holds a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial engineering from Auburn University. He resides in Atlanta, Georgia.